Pima County
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Joseph A. Ambrosy, located in Tucson in 1912 and there he has rapidly won recognition as a skilled veterinary surgeon, building up a large practice. He is a specialist on diseases of the eye of all kinds of domestic animals and is a very skillful surgeon. He is a native of southern Austria, his birth occurring on the 14th of May, 1870. Upon completing his preliminary education he learned the horseshoeing trade which is one of the requirements for admission to the Royal Veterinary College in Vienna. He as graduated from that institution in 1889. In 1888 he entered the Austrian where he served for five years, being discharged with the rank of captain. It was in 1893 that Dr. Ambrosy came to the United States, having decided that the new world afforded better opportunities for a successful career than were to be found in the most congested sections of Europe. He first located at Bridgeport, Connecticut where he engaged in horseshoeing and also practiced veterinary surgery. from there he went to Morton County North Dakota, where he established a shop which he conducted for three years. He next went to North Yakima, Washington and after a brief residence there removed to San Francisco California where he attended the Veterinary College from which he subsequently graduated. During that time he was residing in Larkspur, Marin County, that state where he also established a shop and engaged in practice there and in San Francisco. In 1912 the college advised him to locate in Tucson as there was an excellent opening there for a capable man in the profession. This he did and has had no occasion to regret it. He is veterinary for the Tucson Farms Company and the Autrey and Peterson Dairy and is also live stock inspection. In addition to his duties in this connection he is rapidly building up a large private practice. Dr. Ambrosy was married in Vienna Austria in 1893 to Miss Marie Appel. --Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913
Teofilo E. Aros, a well known resident of Tucson, is one of the prominent cattlemen of Arizona, where he also has valuable real estate and mining interests. He was born in San Bernardino County, California in 1860 and is a son of the late Antonio Aros, a native of Sonora, Mexico who went to California in 1849 and engaged in the cattle and mercantile business and also operated a large ranch. He prospered in his various undertakings and was known as one of the successful business men of the southwest. In 1884 he removed with his family to Arizona, locating on a cattle ranch in the Sasabe District and there passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1912, when he had reached a ripe old age. He had acquired large interests, including extensive and valuable land holdings in Mexico. He assisted in the development of the southwest and in early life participated in many of the Indian Wars in this section. The mother of our subject died July 25, 1903. The boyhood and youth of Teofilo E. Aros were passed in his native state, his education being acquired in St. Vincent's College in Los Angeles. When old enough to assume the duties of manhood he became associated with his father in the management of the cattle ranch and he also assisted him in conducting a general merchandise store at Sasabe, where he filed on a hundred and sixty acres of government land on which he proved up. For a time he engaged in teaching school in that district and also held the office of postmaster. He holds the title to some valuable mining interests in Mexico and has extensive realty holdings in Tucson, in partnership with his brother and two sisters. Mr. Aros removed to that city with his family in the fall of 1912 in order to five his children better educational advantages. Mr. Aros married Miss Mercedes Celaya, a native of Mexico and to them have been born ten sons, eight of whom are living: Antonio, Gustave, Teofilo E., Jr., Aureliano, Randolpho, Bernardo, Armando and Jesus. The family residence is located on East Fourteenth Street. --Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913, pg 612
George W. Atkinson, a resident of Tucson
was one of the pioneer cattle men of Arizona. His birth occurred in Peoria,
Illinois on the 14th of December 1844, his parents being John and Sarah
(Largent) Atkinson, the father a native of Yorkshire England and the mother of
Virginia. The latter died in Illinois in 1846, and about 1818 the father married
Sarah Davis. They continued to reside in Illinois until the spring of 1860 when
the family started across the country with a wagon and team for Colorado, a
distance of a thousand miles. From there they went to St. Joseph Missouri and on
the Atchison Kansas where they crossed the Missouri River. They crossed the Big
Blue and the Little Blue Rivers and traveled up the east side of the Platte
River to Fort Kearney, reaching their destination-- the city of Denver--on the
1st of May 1860.
George W. Atkinson was a youth of sixteen when he
accompanied his father on his removal to Colorado. Such education he received
was obtained in the public schools of his native state and after locating in
Denver he learned the brick makers trade under his father. Subsequently he
became a member of the firm of Atkinson and Baker, but in February 1868 he
entered the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad Company and for three years was
a member of the construction crew. In the summer of 1877 he made a trip to
Deadwood South Dakota but in the autumn of the same year came to Globe Arizona.
There he established a brick yard being the first man in the state to employ
native clay in that industry. On January 1, 1879 he removed to Calabasas, then
Pima but now Santa Cruz County where he erected a hotel, constructed from brick
manufactured from Arizona clay. While engaged in building he settled on a cattle
ranch in the vicinity of the town and turned his attention to stock raising and
farming. He put in a pumping plant to irrigate, obtaining water from the Santa
Cruz and Sonora Rivers. Owing to the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court rendered
in favor of the Baca claimants to the Baca Float No. 3 where Mr. Atkinson's
ranch was located, he disposed of his cattle selling three thousand fifty head
for ninety-nine thousand and twenty five dollars. He is now living retired in
Tucson.
Of his many experiences on the frontier Mr. Atkinson relates many
unusual experiences. In Colorado in 1864 he joined Tyler's Rangers and had his
first experience in Indian warfare. The next year he was again called out to
assist in quelling an uprising among the Indians and was present at the massacre
of Sand Creek. During his early ranching days in Arizona he had difficulty with
both the Mexicans and the Indians and on several occasions barely escaped with
his life. from 1895 to 1897 he was a member of the firm of L. Zeckendorf and
Company who handled about forty thousand head of cattle, theirs being one of the
largest ranches in this section. One day in 1879 Mr. Atkinson went to the ranch
of P. Kitchen, located five miles south of Calabasas, and on his return tip was
waylaid by five Mexicans who relieved him of his saddle and forty dollars as
well as his overcoat. He came to Tucson, supplied himself with another gun,
ammunition and money, and two weeks later had a similar experience. On this
occasion the outlaws took him prisoner escorting him to his ranch house where
they compelled him to cook their dinner and then demanded five hundred dollars.
Refusing to comply with their terms they slipped a noose around his neck, pulled
him up a few times and finally released him upon the payment of thirty dollars.
Two weeks later the entire gang was arrested near Magdalena Mexico and in their
possession was found Mr. Atkinson's saddle and overcoat.
Mr. Atkinson
married Miss Julia Jordan in 1882 and they had no children but adopted two sons,
Samuel and Joseph D. Mrs. Atkinson passed away in 1907 and in 1908 he married
Miss Catherine Deegan, a native of Ireland and they have become the parents of
three daughters and one son, Dora, Georgia, George W. Jr and Ione.
--Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913, pg 110
Coles Bashford was born near Cole Springs New York, January 24, 1816 and finished
his education at Wesleyan University, New York after which he studied law and was
admitted to practice in all the courts of his native state in the year 1842. He
served as District Attorney of Wayne County New York, elected in 1847. In 1850
he moved to Wisconsin and soon attained an enviable position in his profession.
He was elected to the State Senate on the Whig ticket, and upon the dissolution
of that party became one of the founders of the Republican party in 1854-55,
being elected to the Legislative Assembly at that time. IN 1855 he was elected
Governor of Wisconsin.
During the winter of 1862-63 he was domiciled in
Washington but being imbued with the spirit of the pioneer he accompanied the
officials appointed for the organization of the Territory of Arizona arriving
with the party at Prescott in 1864. Mr. Bashford served as Attorney-General of
Arizona; as President of the council of the First Territorial Legislature, have
been elected from Pima County, and as Delegate to Congress from Arizona in the
40th Congress.
He was the first lawyer admitted to practice in
Territorial Courts. In May 1864 he was admitted to practice at Tucson. In 1871
he compiled the various session laws into one volume having been appointed to do
this work by the Legislature. He was also re-elected to the second session of
the Legislature.
He was active in political affairs until his death in
Prescott, April 25, 1878. His remains were interred at Mountain View Cemetery in
Oakland California and the inscription on his tombstones says: "Write me as one
who loves his fellowman."
His widow who survived him and now resides in
Oakland, bore the maiden name of Frances Adams Foreman and was born at Seneca
Falls New York. Born of this union were seven children: Elizabeth, widow of G.A.
Specher; Margaret, wife of R.H. Burmeister; William C., for a long time
associated in business with Mr. Burmeister under the firm name of Bashford and
Burmeister and who died in Los Angeles in 1915; Helen B., widow of W.E. Smith;
Belle, who died at the age of eleven; Lillian E, wife of A.W. Kirkland and
Edward L. of Oakland California. --History of Arizona, Thomas Edwin
Farish, Vol. 2 1915, pg. 90
Charles H. Bayless, treasurer and general manager of Bayless & Berkalew Co., one of the oldest live stock firms in Arizona, was born at Highland, Kas., November 23, 1863. He is the eldest son of William H. and Margaret Patterson Bayless. His father, now in his eighty-fifth year, but still well and active, together with a younger brother, John Stuart Bayless, are the other members of B. & B. Co. Mr. Bayless was graduated from Highland College in the class of 1884, was valedictorian, and has received the degrees of A. B. and A. M. On leaving college he came to Arizona, where he assisted his father in organizing the live stock business, of which he is now head. In 1885 he returned to his home and became assistant cashier in the banking house of J. P. Johnson, one of the very few millionaires in Kansas at that time. Later he accepted a call to the chair of mathematics in his Alma Mater. Upon the sudden death of the president of the institution Mr. Bayless was made acting president and for two years had full charge of all college work. He then resigned in order to take post graduate work at The Johns Hopkins University. Before completing his course there he was called to Arizona by the illness of his father and in 1892 he decided to give up his college career and devote his time to business. Always interested in educational matters, Mr. Bayless has served the University of Arizona as member and treasurer of its Board of Regents under Governors Brodie, Kibbey and Sloan. His earliest business experience was banking and for several years he has been a director and member of the loan committee of the Consolidated National Bank of Tucson. Mr. Bayless is a Republican, has ever been a worker in his party, and has held several positions of honor and trust. He was once appointed County Supervisor and later elected to the same office, when he served as Chairman of the Board with credit to his constituents and himself. Mr. Bayless is a charter member of the Tucson Lodge of Elks and The Old Pueblo Club, and affiliated with the Presbyterian church. A firm believer in Tucson and its future, he has served as President of its Chamber of Commerce and is actively interested in the development of the country's resources. Some of the choicest irrigated lands in Pima County belong to Bayless, Berkalew & Co., and its high bred cattle have long commanded the fanciest prices. Mr. Bayless is unmarried and makes his home with his brother at his elegant residence on University Avenue. --1913, Who's Who in Arizona, pages 225-226.
A life varied in service and
faultless in honor came to a close June 7, 1912 when John H.Behan died athis
home in Tucson. In his career those things which make for success-- good
citizenship and worthy living--found ample justification and the record of his
activities may well serve as a source of inspiration to the younger generation.
Mr. Behan was born in Westport Missouri and came as a pioneer to Arizona,
crossing the plains in 1863. He settled immediately in Tucson and was engaged by
the U.S. government to furnish supplies to the troops stationed at the fort. He
afterward went to Prescott where he freighted to the mines with bull teams, and
gradually became well known in public life, serving as county recorder and
sheriff of Yavapai County.
During the course of his career he made many
changes in location, becoming familiar with standards and conditions in all
parts of Arizona and proving his loyalty and public spirit by worthy public
service. He was elected to the territorial legislature from Mohave County on the
democratic ticket and was afterward the first sheriff of Cochise County. He
followed this by a period of service as superintendent of the state prison at
Yuma under Governor Zulick and was then appointed by President Cleveland special
agent of the department of the treasury for Arizona and Texas with headquarters
at El Paso.
At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War his patriotic
spirit aroused, Mr. Behan joined the army and was sent to the front as a member
of the quartermaster department under General Humphreys. He saw active service
in Cubaand continued his military career inChina, where he took part in many
engagements during the Boxer uprising.
The last years of his life were
spent in Tucson where he was connected with the commissary department of the
Arizona Eastern Railroad in which capacity he was serving at the time of his
death, June 7, 1912. His upright and straightforward life and his long and
honorable public service won him the respect and esteem of all with whom he came
in contact, and his death was sincerely mourned by his many friends.
Mr.
Behan was married and had one son, Albert P. who was born in Prescott in 1873.
He acquired his education in the common schools of that city and in Cogswell
Polytechnic College in San Francisco.
Following in his father's footsteps
he entered public life and in it gained a position of importance and prominence.
He began in 1880 as page in the territorial legislature and when that body
removed to Phoenix he served as messenger in 1893. He was deputy collector of
customs on the Mexican border and later for three years under sheriff of Yuma
County.
This was followed by eight years devoted to mining in Mexico but
at the end of that time he returned to Arizona and in 1911 was made deputy
sheriff of Yuma county, an office in which he is now serving, discharging his
duties in an able and conscientious manner. --Arizona the Youngest
State, 1913
Judge Bethune, who, in his efforts to
preserve law and order, has shown much wisdom, good judgment and has balanced
the scales of justice with an impartial hand. He is a native of Georgia, born in
Columbus, July 3, 1842, and the son of James N. and Frances (Gundy) Bethune,
natives of that state. The father was a soldier in the Seminole War, served as
Captain and was General of the militia of Georgia at an early day and was always
known as General Bethune. A lawyer by profession he held many offices and being
a man of much more than the average ability, a graduate of the University of
Georgia and a contemporary of Calhoun, Crawford and others, was well known all
over the country. For many years he was editor of the "Columbus Times," and he
founded the "Columbus Inquirer" which is still published there. One of the most
prominent and popular men of the State, his career was a brilliant one from
start to finish. Before he had reached his twenty first year he was made
solicitor general of his district in Georgia. His death occurred in Washington
in December, 1895. His father, John Bethune, was surveyor general of Georgia for
many years.
Joseph D. Bethune passed his boyhood and youth in his native
county and by the time the Civil War broke out had received a good literary
education in the public schools. He dropped his books, however, and in April
1861, enlisted in Company G., Second Georgia Regiment, and served through the
greater part of the war. He participated in all the principal engagements in the
South and was twice wounded, once at the Battle of Chickamauga and again at
Malvern Hill. He was obliged to go to the hospital and has never fully recovered
from the one received at Chickamauga. In 1864 he was in command of a company of
artillery with the rank of first lieutenant and served in that capacity until
captured or until the close of the war. He surrendered at Macon Georgia and
afterward went north and settled at Warrenton, Virginia, where in connection
with farming, he practiced law until 1876. from there he moved to Los Angeles,
California, practiced his profession and was registrar of the United States Land
Office for two and a half years. He then resigned and in March 1893, removed to
Tucson Arizona on account of his health, and practiced law here until 1894 when
he was appointed judge of the First District Court of Arizona, a position he has
held up to the present time. As a lawyer and judge he has but few equals in the
Territory and as a citizen and neighbor is highly esteemed.
Judge Bethune
was married in 1869 to Miss Mary Agnes Clark, a native of Virginia and a
daughter of a Baltimore merchant. Six children have been given them: Frank,
James N., Isabelle, Joseph D., Fannie and Mary Agnes. Mrs. Bethune is a member
of the Presbyterian Church. --History of Arizona, 1898
"The spelling of
the maiden name of Judge Bethune's mother is Gunby." Ken Thomas 03 Mar 2014
John A. Black, proprietor of the largest jewelry
store in Arizona is a practical, highly educated gentleman and one aptly skilled
in every branch of his calling. He is a native of Scotland, born in Aberdeen in
1853 and educated in Union Row Academy. When but a boy he served an
apprenticeship at the wholesale dry goods business n his native land and in 1873
crossed the ocean and settled in Toronto, Canada where he was engaged in the
wholesale dry goods business for less than a year. From there he went to
Chicago, where soon after arriving he was employed in the wholesale jewelry
business and later represented one of the largest houses in that line in
Chicago, through Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico, for several years,
making Denver his headquarters.
Mr. Black was married in Chicago in 1882
and gave up traveling. An opening presented itself for a jewelry store in Tucson
and he began business there in April 1883. Since that time he has resided in
that flourishing city and carries a large and well selected stock that would do
credit to a much larger city than Tucson.
Mr. Black is official
timekeeper for the Southern Pacific Railroad and was Commissioner of Immigration
for two years, during Governor Wolfey's administration. --History of Arizona, 1896
Robert T. Bollen, deceased, was a
pioneer in Arizona connected with business interests of Casa Grande, as
proprietor of a large livery stable and hay and grain business. He was a native
of Texas, born near San Antonio and spent the early years of his life in
Illinois but came as a pioneer into the western country. He located in
California in 1850 and spent five years mining on the Fraser River. The year
1855 he was in Oregon, where he participated in the Rogue River Indian War and
for that service he later received a pension from the Government. From Oregon he
went to British Columbia, where he mined for six years and then went to Virginia
City, Nevada. He also engaged in cattle raising and came to Arizona in 1877. For
a number of years he drove a stage between Florence and Casa Grande but
abandoned that occupation to ranching and cattle dealing. Afterward he conducted
a large livery stable. He died March 9, 1915 at the age of seventy four years.
On the 9th of January 1913, Mr. Bollen married Miss Carmelita Lopez, a young
lady of marked musical talent, playing several different instruments and
possessing a fine voice. She is a native of Florence and is considered one of
the best singers in Arizona. --Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913, pg 824
Peter Rainsford Brady came on his paternal side
from good old Irish stock. His mother, Anna Rainsford was from Virginia. He was
born in Georgetown, District of Columbia, August 4, 1825; received his education
in part at Georgetown College, later entering the Naval Academy at Annapolis,
Maryland from which he was graduated 1844. After cruising around the
Mediterranean Sea in the U.S. vessel Plymouth he resigned from the navy and left
his home October 26, 1846 for San Antonio Texas where he enlisted as a
Lieutenant in the Texas Rangers and served with distinction in the Mexican War.
After the war Mr. Brady joined a surveying party under Colonel Andrew B. Gray,
who made a survey from Marshall, Texas to El Paso, thence across the country to
Tubac and from the latter point made branch surveys, one to Port Lobos on the
Gulf of California and the other to Fort Yuma and San Diego. Mr. Brady served as
a captain on this expedition and was prominent in many Indian fights. When the
work was completed, the company disbanded at San Francisco.
Mr. Brady was
of an adventurous spirit and in his younger life preferred the wilderness to
civilization. In 1854 he came to Arizona and settled in Tucson. After the
organization of the Territory he held several public offices and was sheriff for
two terms. He was married in 1859 to Juanita Mendibles and had four children,
all boys. She died in 1871 and he married Miss Maria Ontonia Ochoa of Florence
Arizona by whom he had three boys and one girl. He settled in Florence in 1872
and made it his home for twenty seven years. He engaged in farming, mining and
stock raising and in 1881 he received $60,000 for his half interest in the Vekol
Mine.
"In 1894," says his daughter, Miss Margaret A. Brady, "my father
was appointed as Special Agent for the Interior Department in the U.S. Private
Court of Land Claims, and he obtained valuable information in behalf of the
Government in the Peralta-Reavis land fraud. His notes are very humorous
relative to the ridiculous claims of Reavis and his wife. I can say that it was
greatly due to my father's information that the Government was able to identify
the fraud."
In 1898 he served for the last time in the Upper House of the
Territorial Legislature. In 1899 Mr. Brady moved with his family from Florence
to Tucson where he lived up to the time of his death, May 2, 1902 at the age of
77. All his children are still living and have their residences in Arizona. His
second wife died August 14, 1910. --History of Arizona, Thomas
Edwin Farish, Vol. 2 1915, pg. 283
Philip Cornelius
Brannen, one of the enterprising and progressive business men of Tucson, is now
identified with mercantile interests as a successful clothier. He was born in
Ottawa, Canada, June 12, 1864 and is of Irish lineage. His paternal grandparents
were natives of Ireland, the grandfather having been born in County Cavan, while
the grandmother came from Cork. They settled in Canada and at Van Kleek Hill,
Canada, occurred the birth of their son, Philip R. Brannen, who engaged in the
business of mining and contracting. He was one of the men who helped to make
history in the western country. He took the contract to build some of the snow
sheds on the Central Pacific Railroad through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and
was identified with mining at White Pine, California, in the latter part of 1868
and 1869. When he went to California in 1867 he made the trip around Cape Horn.
In 1870 and 1871 he followed mining at Eureka, Nevada and won a fortune. In the
spring of 1872 he returned to Canada and removed his family to Champaign,
Illinois, where he settled on a large farm, making his home there until his
death. In the meantime, however, he had become interested in mining in Colorado.
The farm is still in the possession of his son, Philip C. Brannen, who is the
only survivor of the family of three sons. One brother, Dr. Dennis J. Brannen,
was a pioneer of Arizona. The father passed away in Illinois in July 1898 and
the mother's death occurred in the year 1908.
Philip C. Brannen was a lad
of about eight years when he accompanied his parents on their removal to
Illinois. He supplemented a public school education by study in the University
of Illinois at Champaign and his practical business training was that of the
farm, with the work of which he early became familiar. He was a young man of
twenty three years, when in 1887 he left Illinois and came to Arizona, spending
some time at work in mercantile establishments in Flagstaff and in Phoenix. In
1897 he arrived in Tucson and for four years was employed in the clothing
department of the store operated by the Albert Steinfeld Company, dry-goods
merchants, gaining during that time a practical experience which has proved
invaluable to him in the conduct of his independent enterprise. In 1901 he
established himself in the clothing business and has since won substantial
success, securing, in recognition of his well selected line of goods, his
courteous service and reasonable prices, a large and representative patronage.
This does not, however, cover the scope of his business activities and interests
for he is a director of the Gila Land and Cattle Company and a director of the
Consolidated National Bank.
At Chicago, Illinois, Mr. Brannen was united
in marriage to Miss Elizabeth M. Barry, a native of Canada and a daughter of
Michael J. and Mary (Lynch) Barry. Mr. Barry was engaged extensively in the
lumber business at Barry Lakes, Canada and it was in honor of him that the lakes
were named. He subsequently removed to Rochelle, Illinois, retiring from active
business at that time. Both he and his wife have now passed away. To Mr. and
Mrs. Brannen have been born three children, Dorothy Mary, Phyllis M. and Philip
Barry all now students in the high school of Tucson. --Arizona, The
Youngest State, 1913, pg 634
Rosario Brena, founder,
president and manager of the Brena Commercial Company for nearly thirty years is
now deceased. He was born in Sonora, Mexico in 1854 and was there reared and
educated. In 1878 he came to Tucson and entered the employ of L. Zeckendorf and
Company for whom he worked about six years. He then embarked in the grocery
business on his own account and was engaged in the retail trade until 1901. He
opened a wholesale establishment under the name of the Brena Commercial Company
of which he was president and general manager until his death, which occurred on
the 18th of January 1914. It was the only exclusive wholesale store of the kind
in Arizona and it prospered from the very first. Mr. Brena enlarged his business
from time to time to meet the growing demands of his trade and it is now one of
the city's most thriving commercial establishments. Its trade now covers
southern Arizona and a large portion of the territory of old Mexico. In addition
to his commercial enterprise, Mr. Brena at one time owned and conducted a large
cattle ranch in the Sopori district.
Mr. Brena was united in marriage to
Miss Mary Cotton who was born in Mexico of American parentage and they became
the parents of two sons: Pedro C., who is mentioned below and Rosario C., who
died August 8, 1911.
Pedro C. Brena who is now president and general
manager of the Brena Commercial Company was reared at home and completed his
education in the University of Arizona. After leaving school, he entered his
father's office and for twelve years was connected with him in business. In 1912
he married Miss Concha Calderon, a native of Mexico. --Arizona, The
Youngest State, 1913
Charles O. Brown was born in New
York and when a young man came west. He is said to have been a member of the
Glanton band which was engaged in gathering scalps of the Indians in Chihuahua
for which they received $150 each. Brown had gone to California when Glanton and
his associates were murdered by the Indians at Yuma. It is not certain when he
returned to Arizona, probably about the year 1858. He was a saloon man and a
gambler, a dead shot and it is said that he had several notches in his gun. He
was at Tucson at the time of the Confederate invasion and remained there after
the Confederates left. When the California Column arrived he was given a
monopoly for the selling of liquor and gambling in Tucson by Colonel West. From
there Brown went to the Mesilla Valley where he married a Mexican woman of good
family and settled permanently in Tucson about the year 1864 or 1865. He was
very prosperous in his saloon business, his saloon becoming the popular resort
of all classes when the prospectors, miners and adventurers began to flow into
the southern part of Arizona. He brought into the Territory the first sewing
machine, which was a great curiosity to the Mexican inhabitants of Arizona and
Sonora. Upon the birth of his first son he sent to St. Louis and brought in a
baby carriage, an unheard of thing at that time in Arizona. In 1867 or 68 he
built Congress Hall in Tucson in which the first legislature held at Tucson was
convened. The saloon had floors of wood, the lumber for which was hauled from
Santa Fe and cost $500 a thousand. The locks on the doors cost $12 each and all
other material in like proportion. For a long time it stood as the best building
in southern Arizona.
In his gambling hall and liquor saloon, Brown had a
mint, but it went almost as fast as made. He was very generous to his friends
and he managed in this way to squander a fortune. He was also, always staking
men for prospecting which seldom proves a lucrative venture. He died a few years
ago, leaving no property whatsoever. --History of Arizona, Vol II,
Thomas E. Farish, 1915, pg 185
Henry H. Buehman was a
pioneer in Tucson since 1874. He was born in Breman Germany, May 14, 1851, where
he received a public school education. In his fifteenth year he became an
apprentice in the photograph business and mastered the art in all of its
details. In June 1868 he boarded a steamer for San Francisco via the Isthmus of
Panama. After a residence of one year in San Francisco, being in the employ of a
firm of photographers, Mr. Buehman determined to be his own master and opened up
an establishment in Visalia California. After two years residence he traveled
over large portions of California, Nevada and Utah and reached Prescott early in
July 1874. Here equipping himself with spring wagon and span of mules, Mr.
Buehman started on a long trip to Mexico but reaching Tucson he abandoned the
trip to Mexico and settled down to business in the old Pueblo. He purchased a
lot on Congress Street, adjoining the site now occupied by the Arizona National
Bank, and proceeded to erect an adobe building, consisting of three suites of
rooms for residence purposes.
In October 1882 Mr. Buehman married Miss
Estelle Morehouse of Portland Michigan. He served on the board of school
trustees, the board of trustees of the Territorial Reform School at Benson and
in 1894 was elected mayor of Tucson serving two terms.
An artist by
profession he was truly that in spirit. Children's pictures were his specialty
and delight and his love and tact wit the little ones were such that he was
successful in winning over the most obstinate subjects for portraiture.
This truly noble life, for he was universally beloved by all who knew him came
to its close from pneumonia on December 19, 1912. Mr. Buehman accumulated
considerable property being in the cattle business for several years, his ranch
being located in the foothills of the Catalina's, eight miles from San Pedro. He
left his wife comfortably provided for and two promising sons, Willis and
Albert. Willis, the elder son has been for several years accountant and cashier
of the El Tivo Copper Company at Silver Bell with offices in New York and
Philadelphia. Albert, the younger, though a mining man, having graduated from
the Michigan College of Mines with a degree in mining engineering, took up and
carried on his father's business, accomplishing the art of photography.
Source: Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913, page 830
Colin Cameron was
born in Danville Pennsylvania on the 10th of December 1849, and was a son of
Simon and Elizabeth (Leinbach) Cameron. In the paternal line the family is
descended from Highland Scotch stock and has furnished not only to Pennsylvania
but to the American nation, some of its notable public men. This branch of the
family has been twice represented in the U.S. cabinet by General Simon Cameron
and his son, James Donald Cameron--close relatives of Simon Cameron who was the
father of the subject of this sketch. General Simon Cameron was secretary of war
under President Lincoln, until 1862 when he became U.S. minister to Russia. He
was also for many years a member of the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania. James
Donald Cameron was secretary of war under President Grant. He resigned from the
cabinet in 1877 and in that year was elected U.S. senator from Pennsylvania,
succeeding his father, General Simon Cameron.
The early years of Colin
Cameron Sr. were passed in a home of comfortable circumstances and amid an
environment conducive to the development of high principles. He completed his
education at Lafayette College and turned his attention to business affairs and
for a time was manager of the estate of G. Dawson Coleman of Lancaster
Pennsylvania. He continued to reside in his native state until 1882 when he and
his brother Brewster came to Arizona, where they purchased a large tract of land
known as the San Rafael grant. Their holding extended for miles in every
direction but its boundaries had not then been established and for ten years the
question of the lines of their grant was fought out in the courts. The squatters
who had settled on the land claimed by the Cameron's were very hostile in their
attitude toward the brothers and there was hardly a day for a long period but
brought threats of bodily injury or death to them. At last the dispute was
settled and the court gave them legal possession of a large portion of the
tract. They engaged in the cattle business when they first located in Arizona,
maintaining for many years one of the largest outfits on the southwestern range.
Their early experiences were most difficult and discouraging, as while
engaged in fighting for the title to their land, they suffered large losses from
their herds from cattle rustlers and thieves. With the sharp enforcement of the
law, these marauders were gradually stamped out and conditions became more
favorable for the cattle industry. For several years Colin Cameron sent his
cattle to the live stock exhibits at Kansas City and he became recognized as one
of the authorities on Hereford cattle. He was a prominent member of the National
Live Stock Association. He worked tirelessly in his efforts to improve the
conditions to improve the stock industry but met with little encouragement for
many years. When appointed chairman of the Arizona Cattle Sanitary Board the
stock laws of the state were very crude but at his own expense he had a set of
laws drafted which contained the best sections from stock laws of various
western states. Several years prior to his death, Mr. Cameron sold his ranch and
removed to Tucson where he erected a beautiful residence called Lochaber on
Franklin Street and lived there until his death on March 6, 1911.
On
March 15, 1877 Mr. Cameron married Miss Alice F. Smith, also a native of
Pennsylvania and to them were born four children: Colin Jr. of Tucson; Mary C.,
the wife of Walter Wakefield of Tucson; Jean C., wife of Leland D. Adams of
Weedon Canada and Alice F. Cameron II. --Arizona, The Youngest
State, 1913, pg 804
Dr. Meade Clyne, now a physician of
Tucson, was born on the 30th day of April 1882, in Joliet, Illinois, of which
city his parents, John T. and Anna (McCloskey) Clyne, are still residents. Both
are natives of New York state. The Doctor passed his boyhood and youth in Joliet
and is indebted to its public schools for his early education. After his
graduation from high school he matriculated in the medical college of the
Northwestern University at Chicago and was graduated from that institution with
the class of 1907. An excellent student, he made notable progress in his work
and was held in high regard by members of the faculty. Immediately following his
graduation he was appointed intern at Wesley Hospital, Chicago, where he
remained for two years, and the practical experience thus acquired, together
with his thorough preparation, well qualified him to begin his independent
career on his return to Joliet, where he maintained an office for one year.
Believing that the southwest afforded better opportunities, Dr. Clyne came
to Tucson in 1910 and has since successfully engaged in practice in this city. A
fine mind, independent and decisive habits of thought make him a power in the
sickroom. For three years he maintained an office alone but at the end of that
time he and three other physicians purchased what was then known as the Rogers
Hospital, but now the Arizona Hospital of which he is one of the directors. In
1911 and 1912 he served as secretary of the Pima County Medical Society and was
honored with the presidency of that organization in 1914.
On the 28th of
March 1910 Dr. Clyde was united in marriage to Miss Alice Budlong, a native of
Chicago. --Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913, pg 617
William B. Coberly is regarded as one of the progressive young
business men of Tucson. He was born in Denver Colorado, on the 9th of November
1883 and is a son of William D. and Florence (Bayley) Coberly. The father was
one of the pioneers of Colorado, having located there in 1857. He met with
success in his undertakings and subsequently acquired extensive interests in
that state and in Arizona. Both he and his wife are now residents of Hollywood
California.
During the childhood of William B. Coberly the family removed
to Missouri where he was reared and educated also attending the Throop
Polytechnic Institute of Pasadena California. In 1903 he came to Arizona to
assume the management of the La Osa Cattle Company of which W.D. Coberly was
president and Frank H. Hereford secretary. In 1907 William B. Coberly was made
the treasurer. This was a close corporation and conducted in the southern part
of Arizona. It was splendidly equipped and was supplied with all of the
facilities and conveniences found upon the modern cattle ranch of the present
day. Despite the fact that he was only twenty years of age when he took over the
management Mr. Coberly was fully qualified for the duties he assumed. The
company sold the ranch in the spring of 1915 but Mr. Coberly is still the owner
of property in Tucson and is now anticipating again entering the cattle
business.
In 1907 Mr. Coberly was married to Miss Winifred Wheeler, a
native of Tucson and a daughter of C.C. and Kate (Allison) Wheeler. The father,
a native of Wisconsin, came to Arizona in 1881 and here followed merchandising
as the senior member of the firm of Wheeler and Perry. His wife is a native of
California and they were married in Tucson in 1885. They still make their home
in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Coberly have become the parents of three children:
William B. Jr., Margaret and Charles Wheeler. --Arizona, The
Youngest State, 1913
Charles T. Connell, the present
efficient City Recorder, is a man well known in this part of the territory and
one whose push and energy and progressive and advanced ideas have brought him
prominently before the public. He was born in Mount Vernon, Iowa, January 21,
1859 and is the son of Peter D. and Mary M. (Safely) Connell, natives of Ohio
and New York respectively and of Scotch Irish origin. Charles T. received his
education in the Mount Pleasant Military Academy and Sing Sing, New York, it
being his intention to enter West Point. The trend of events, however, changed
his course and in 1880 he accepted an appointment under Major Powell to take the
first census of Apache Indians that year. He accordingly came West and the year
following was appointed to the post of Indian trader at San Carlos, at which
place he remained two years. Since that time, 1883, he has been engaged in
mining throughout the Territory, and has adopted that as his business. On the
death of City Recorder Judd, Mr. Connell was appointed by the city council to
the vacant position and his conduct of the office was such that later he was
elected to the position for another term by one of the largest majorities on the
ticket.
All Mr. Connell's interests are centered in and around Tucson and
every dollar he earns is put into the ground in quest of the precious metals. He
has thus acquired considerable interest in several mining camps in this region.
He is chairman of the Republican Central Committee of Pima County and during
1884 and 1885 he was deputy U.S. Marshal under Z.L. Tidball. Mr. Connell was
superintendent of the Eagle Golden Mining Company at Saginaw Camp, nine miles
southerwst of Tucson and he is at present police judge in the city of Tucson.
On the 20th of May, 1882 Mr. Connell married Miss Susan A. Moore in Globe,
daughter of James A. Moore, an old pioneer stage man of Arizona. Mrs. Connell
died February 20, 1895. This union resulted in the birth of three children:
Frances S., first white child born at San Carlos, March 11, 1883; Henrietta F.,
born September 23, 1885 and Robert Moore, born July 4, 1893. --History of Arizona, 1896
Judge William F. Cooper has
the distinction not only of being the first judge of the superior court of Pima
County but was also the first superior judge sworn in after the admission of the
state.
Judge Cooper is a native of Wayne County, Indiana, born August 6,
1858 and to the public school system of that state he is indebted for his early
educational opportunities. He was graduated from the high school at Richmond
Indiana and afterward entered the Peekskill Military Academy at Peekskill New
York, there completing the classical course by graduation in June 1877. At the
early age of eight years he began work during his school vacations in a country
newspaper office and served his apprenticeship as a printer, and in after years
worked as a compositor on many of the lading daily papers of the United States.
He had been a member of the Typographical Union since 1884. He had determined
however to make the practice of law his life work and after his graduation
returned to Richmond, Indian where he began his reading in the office and under
the preceptorship of Judge W.A. Peele. As the result of too close application to
his studies he suffered a very severe physical breakdown and was compelled in
the latter part of 1879 to abandon his work and seek health out west. After two
or three years service as a cowboy he regained his strength and resumed his
studies. He was admitted to the bar of the district court in Arizona in October
1894 and to the supreme court in December of the same year and was licensed to
practice before the superior court of Los Angeles in 1895.
Judge Cooper
first visited the Pacific coast in 1879 but returned to the east in 1884 and did
not make a permanent settlement in Arizona until 1892. For a time he was at
Kingman, in Mohave County and also spent a brief period in Phoenix. He afterward
became editor and proprietor of the Florence Tribune at Florence Arizona and in
1896 removed to Tucson where he continued his connection with journalism as
editor of the Tucson Citizen, remaining in that connection until March 1897,
when he became a stenographer in the office of S.M. Franklin. It was in the same
year that he was appointed secretary of the territorial board of equalization
which position he acceptably filled during the administration of Governor
McCord. In 1898 he was elected district attorney of Pima County being the first
republican ever chosen for that office in the county. So creditable was the
record which he made during his first term that he was reelected and continued
in the position for four years. In the latter part of 1903 he went to Nogales
where he continued in law practice for one year as a partner of Frank J. Duffy.
In 1904 he returned to Tucson and was appointed court reporter by Judge Davis,
was reappointed by Judge John H. Campbell and continued in that position for
five years. In 1909 he was elected probate judge on the republican ticket and in
1911 he was elected the first judge of the superior court of Pima County.
In 1894 Judge Cooper was married to Miss Elizabeth A. Douglass, a native of
Arizona and a daughter of James s. and Melquaides (Elias) Douglass, the former a
Scotchman. To Judge and Mrs. Cooper have been born six children: John D., Vida
E., Orville W., Xulla M., William F. Jr. and Mary Eileen. --Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913
To say that
Benjamin Franklin Daniels is interested in mining and is winning success in the
brokerage business in Tucson is to give but a very incomplete idea of his
character and accomplishments. His life has been fraught with many adventures
and even dangerous phases and has been closely connected with some
characteristic aspects of frontier development. He is a veteran of the Spanish
American war, has been a cowboy and Indian fighter and buffalo hunter andas
Marshal in various western towns has proven his coolness, his courage and his
ability.
Born on the 4th of November 1852, Mr. Daniels is a native of
Illinois and in that state was reared to the age of eleven years. His parents
were Aaron and Mariah (Sanders) Daniels, natives of Virginia and Kentucky. They
were married in the former state, removed to Ohio and afterward to Illinois. The
mother and six children, two sons and four daughters, died of cholera within two
days and Benjamin F. Daniels, then a baby was left for dead and his coffin was
ordered but a neighbor found him and gave him a brandy which resuscitated him.
The father survived the cholera scourge, married again and removed to Kansas
when his son Benjamin was eleven years of age, spending the remaining days in
that state.
It was in the year 1863 that Benjamin became a resident of
Kansas. When he was sixteen years of age he went to Texas, running cattle on the
range and while in that state he had trouble with the Indians and met the usual
experiences of cowboy life. He engaged in hunting buffalo in the west. At Dodge
City Kansas, he accepted the position of marshal of the town, succeeding two
incumbents who had been killed in riots. While serving in that capacity in 1883,
at which time Dodge City was one of the toughest towns in the west, a fire was
started in the back end of one of the many saloons of the place and the rising
wind caused it to spread over the whole block so that the businessmen of that
and adjacent blocks began carrying their goods out of the buildings and piling
them in the streets in order to save wheat they could. It became Mr. Daniels'
duty as Marshal to hire extra policemen sworn in in order to protect these
goods. When the fire was raging in its greatest fury one of the policemen
approached Mr. Daniels and told him that a certain man was helping himself to
whatever he wanted and when asked as to why he did not arrest the man, the reply
was that he was a Texas killer and the policeman was afraid to tackle him. Just
then he said, "There he is now," and they saw a man filing his pockets with
candy from a showcase. Mr. Daniels walked up to him and asked him what he was
doing and the man replied that he was taking some candy.
Mr. Daniels gave
him a very unpleasant lecture and told him to stay away and that if he was
caught around there anymore he would be locked up. An hour later a policeman
reported, telling Mr. Daniels to be more careful, that the Texan had a six
shooter strapped on him and was making some bad talk. Mr. Daniels started for
the man, walked up to him, took his gun away and locked him in the city jail. It
was the fall of the year and the weather was cold. The jail was rudely built and
there was no stove in it. Before long two of the mans friends approached Mr.
Daniels and offered to go on his bond if the Texas should be let out. Mr.
Daniels replied that if they would put up fifty dollars for his appearance the
next morning at nine o'clock and promise that they would take him home and keep
him there until morning he would be released. The men consented and the next
morning they appeared with the prisoner, whereupon Mr. Daniels charged him with
carrying concealed weapons and turned the money that had been put up for his
bond over to the judge.
The man pleaded guilty and the Judge fined him
fifty dollars and costs, which he paid without a murmur but immediately said,
"Mr. Marshall, if you will lay off your gun I will show you how quick I can lick
you," whereupon the Marshall threw his six shooter across the table to the judge
and jumped over the railing after the Texas, whereupon ensued a hot fight in
which the stove was thrown over and furniture broken, while the judge stood on
top of his table swinging the six shooter over his head and demanding peace in
the courtroom. Finally Mr. Daniels' opponent cried enough and after Mr. Daniels
asked the man if he was satisfied that he couldn't whip him and was answered in
the affirmative, he turned to the judge and complained on himself for disturbing
the peace and he was fined twenty five dollars. He then made complaint against
his opponent for the same offense and the man was fined an equal amount.
Afterward Mr. Daniels' fine was remitted.
The Texan remained in Dodge
city for a number of months but Mr. Daniels had no more trouble with him, having
succeeded in making him a fairly law abiding citizen. Other experiences of a
sinister nature constituted events and incidents in the life of Mr. Daniels. For
a short time he was deputy sheriff of Bent Count Colorado, and later served as
marshal at Gutherie Oklahoma holding the office during the time when twenty five
thousand homeseekers made a rush for government lands. It was estimated that
twenty five thousand people landed in Guthrie alone the first day. He afterward
returned to Colorado where he spent two years in Cripple Creek acting as marshal
and also becoming connected with mining interests.
The outbreak of the
Spanish American War found Mr. Daniels in Texas and from San Antonio he joined
Troop K of the1st United States Cavalry, known as the Rough Riders and commanded
by Col. Theodore Roosevelt. He went to Cuba, saw much active service, taking
part in various hotly contested battles and returned home uninjured with a good
military record after which he was mustered out with his command. Mr. Daniels
tells an interesting incident in connection with his war service. while his
troop was in camp at San Antonio numbers were given to each of the company but
no one could be found who would accept No. 13. Mr. Daniels took the number and
out of the twenty men in the company he was the only one not killed, crippled or
injured in battle.
After the close of the war, Mr. Daniels went to Kansas
City Missouri where he worked for the Wells Fargo Express Company in the
capacity of guard over big shipments of money. In 1899 he resigned and came to
Arizona, where he engaged in mining until appointed to the position of
superintendent of the territorial prison at Yuma. After the election of his
former commander, Col.. Roosevelt to the Presidency, Mr. Daniels was appointed
U.S. Marshal forthe territory of Arizona and served in that capacity for four
years and two months. Following the election of William Taft he was removed from
office and given a position at the Menominee Indians Reservations which is forty
miles west of Green Bay Wisconsin. After a short time, he resigned and again
came to Arizona, taking up residence in Tucson, where he has since remained.
On the 15th of July 1908 Mr. Daniels married Mrs. Seayrs, a native of
Indiana who by a former marriage had a daughter, Mary Louise who died March 12,
1915. Mrs. Daniels engaged in teaching school before her marriage to Mr. Daniels
and has always been interested in educational work. --Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913
Alfredo J. Durazo, Sr. who is
now actively engaged in the operation of his ranch near the Tucson Farms was
born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico in 1857 and came to Tucson in October 1866.
Here he has since spent the greater part of his time, though for two years, from
1868 until 1870 he again lived in Mexico. For about a year he was in the employ
of L. Zeckendorf and Company, pioneer merchants of Tucson after which he went to
Tubac and engaged in farming for three years, following which he freighted from
Yuma to Tucson for seven years. During that time he had some rather exciting
experiences with the Indians. Diligent and thrifty he accumulated a small
capital and about 1877 purchased a ranch twenty five miles from Tucson where on
he engaged in the cattle business for eighteen years with good success. In 1896
he took up his residence in Tucson in order to give his children better
education advantages and here he has since made his home. Soon after his removal
to the city he opened a modern meat market on Meyers Street, which he conducted
with the assistance of his eldest son, Alfredo J. Jr until 1915 when he retired
from that business and has since devoted his attention to general farming.
In 1873 Mr. Durazo married Miss Eloisa Herrera, a daughter of Pedro Herrera,
one of the pioneers of Arizona, who for some years was engaged in ranching and
cattle raising at Tubac. He passed away in 1868. To Mr. and Mrs. Durazo were
born six children, namely: Sarah, now Mrs. Shindel; Alfredo J., Jr; Sophy;
Genevieve; Pedro; and Toila. The wife and mother is now deceased.
--Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913, pg 637
John W. Estill is prominent in public life in Pima County, serving as the first county
supervisor under the state laws and he is also well known in business circles of
Tucson as the organizer of the Arizona Lumber and Mill Company.
He was
born in Morris County New Jersey, July 28, 1861 and at eleven years of age went
to Ohio where he lived upon a farm for six years. At the end of that time he
removed to Columbus Ohio and there engaged as a manufacturer of brooms. He later
became manager of the Wooden Willoware Manufacturing Company and by his
progressive business methods and executive ability made it a profitable business
enterprise.
Mr. Estill took up his residence in Arizona in 1898 and in
1900 became connected with business interests of Oracle as a general merchant.
He also acted as postmaster and was well and favorably known in that locality
where he remained for six years, coming to Tucson in 1906. Here he organized the
Arizona Lumber and Mill Company and is still connected with the concern which
under his able management has become one of the large and representative
industries of the day.
In 1887 Mr. Estill married Miss Ella R. Howard, a
native of Columbus Ohio and they have become the parents of threechildren:
Howard W, a graduate of the University of Arizona and how assistant in chemistry
in that institution; Mary H. and Edward, both sophomores at the same university.
--Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913
John C. Etchells, assistant cashier of the Consolidated National Bank, Tucson, is a native of this city, having been born here October 20, 1873. He is the son of early pioneers of Tucson. Mr. Etchells first attended the public schools and later took a business course and attended Orchard Lake Military Academy. He has been in the employ of the Consolidated National Bank during the past six- teen years, and in point of service is one of the oldest attaches of the bank at this time. His first position with this institution was that of collector, and he has advanced, step by step, to that of assistant cashier. In politics Mr. Etchells is a Progressive, and in the campaign of 1912 he was a candidate on the citizens ticket for the office of City Treasurer. He is a well-known member of the B. P. O. E., with which he has been actively associated for some years. --1913, Who's Who in Arizona, page 225.
Frederick Fleishman, who since 1881 has been engaged in the drug business in
Tucson, was born in Humboldt County, California, December 27, 1857, a son of
H.C. Fleishman. He acquired his education in the public schools of that state
and New York and began his business career by engaging in the drug trade in Los
Angeles. He remained in that city until 1880, when he came to Tucson, where he
has since made his home. He opened a drug store in this city and has built up an
extensive business, receiving a very liberal patronage, which is accorded him in
recognition of his honorable business principles, his earnest desire to please
his patrons and his reasonable prices.
Mr. Fleishman is president of the
State Board of Pharmacy, a position which indicates something of his high
standing among his professional brethren and is also vice president of the
Citizens Building and Loan Assc. and a director in the Merchants Bank and Trust
Company and the Arizona National Bank. --Arizona, The Youngest State, pg 594
From pioneer times to the present day
Merrill P. Freeman has been closely associated with the history of Tucson and of
Arizona where he has been a potent factor in the business, politics and
education of the state.
Dr. Freeman was born in Ohio in February 1844 but
was only three years of age when the family removed to Iowa and only eight when
a start was made across the plains with ox teams. There as hard training for him
on the way, for everyone, however young had a part of the burden to bear and to
him was assigned the task of assisting in driving the loose cattle, which he did
till towards the end of the journey, when his pony was stolen by Indians. Five
months were required to complete the journey to California. There only Indian
boys were available as companions and playmates. In 1857 he returned to the east
by the Isthmus route and completed a four year academic course. Then the plains
again were crossed by ox team and this time regular guard duty against the
Indians formed a part of his work for the tedious five months of travel.
He became a resident of Nevada in 1862 and in that state devoted about eighteen
years to banking and mining. He also acted as agent at various places for the
Wells Fargo Express Company and at the time of the completion of the Central
Pacific Railroad, in 1869 was also in charge of the western terminus of its
overland stage line. Again and again he was called upon to fill public office,
acting as regent of the University of Nevada, receiver of the U.S. Land Office,
postmaster, county treasurer and chairman of the republican central committee of
his county.
During the winter of 1880-81 Dr. Freeman came to Arizona to
look after mining interests and established his home in Tucson. There he has
since remained. In 1884 he was appointed postmaster of Tucson. This office he
resigned in 1887 to become cashier of the Bank of D. Henderson. This institution
after a number of changes is now perpetuated in the Consolidated National Bank
of Tucson. In 1888 he left the bank, later to establish the Santa Cruz Valley
Bank, now the Arizona Bank. Still later he become connected again with the
Consolidated National Bank as its president but as a result of ill health he
resigned in 1911.
Tucson's public library was started more than thirty
years ago by Dr. Freeman's gift of one hundred volumes. From him also came the
start of the library of the Old Pueblo Club of Tucson. --Arizona,
The Youngest State, 1913
Merrill P., Freeman, LL. D., pioneer, financier, and retired business man of
Tucson, has been a resident of that city during the past thirty-two years, and
during this time has attained to a prominence in the financial, educational,
political and fraternal life of the state that is rarely equalled in the span of
one man's life. Dr. Freeman was born in Ohio, in February, 1844, but was removed
to Iowa with the family when but three years of age, and crossed the plains to
California by ox team when he was but eight years old. The latter trip, now to
be made by rail in three days, then required five months, during which he rode
horseback, driving loose cattle until his pony was stolen by the Indians. His
playmates for the first few years of residence in California were only little
Indian boys. In 1857 Dr. Freeman went by steamer from San Francisco via the
Isthmus to the east, where he took a four years' academic course, and returned
to California, as before, by ox team, this trip requiring the same length of
time as the previous one, and although but seventeen years old, he did regular
guard duty against the Indians. In 1862 he removed to Nevada, where, during the
larger part of a residence of eighteen years, he was engaged in mining and
banking. He also served as agent for the Wells Fargo Express Company at a number
of points, and had charge of the western end of their overland stage line at the
time of the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad, in 1869. At various
times during his residence in Nevada he held offices of political trust and
honor, among which were Regent of the University, Receiver of the U. S. Land
office, Postmaster, county treasurer and chairman of the Republican County
Central Committee. In the winter of 1880-1881 he came to Arizona on mining
business, and located at Tucson. In 1884 he was appointed postmaster of that
city, but resigned this position in 1887 to accept the position of cashier of
the Bank of D. Henderson. As cashier of the Bank of D. Henderson, he began what
has proven to be one of the most notable and influential financial records in
Arizona's history. This bank w r as afterwards consolidated with the Bank of
Tucson and subsequently became the Consolidated National Bank, and during most
of the intervening years it has had the benefit of Dr. Freeman's wisdom and
foresight and has been guided to its eminent success largely because of
adherence to his sound banking policy. In 1888 he severed his connection with
The Consolidated National Bank, retiring for a time from active financial
duties, and later established the Santa Cruz Valley Bank, now the Arizona
National Bank, another of the state's soundest institutions. In 1895 he returned
to his former field of effort, The Consolidated National Bank, as its president,
and until compelled by a nervous breakdown in 1911 to retire, continued in the
president's chair. Many years of close application to business in various lines
had so impaired the health of Dr. Freeman that it seemed the part of wisdom to
dispense with some of his arduous duties, and since then, although generally
recognized as "retired," he is a keenly alive man of affairs, whose influence is
still felt and whose advice is still sought on matters of importance. During the
fifteen years Dr. Freeman was president of the Consolidated National Bank the
deposits increased from something more than $100,000 to one and one-half
millions, which, in addition to being an important factor in the history of the
bank, is a high tribute to its management.
In 1889 Dr. Freeman became
closely associated with the University of Arizona as a member of the Board of
Regents, which position he has since filled at intervals for a total of sixteen
years, ten of which he served as chancellor. At one period, at the earnest
solicitation of the governor, resigning as chancellor of the University to fill
a term on the Territorial Board of Equalization, he was subsequently returned to
his old position as chancellor. In 1911, on nomination by the governor of the
state, he was invested with the degree of LL. D., "for constant and conspicuous
service to the state and university, for devotion to every detail of his high
office as regent and chancellor."
In 1870 Dr. Freeman was made a Mason,
and has since received every degree in Masonry to and including the
thirty-third. He has been Grand Master of two separate jurisdictions, Nevada and
Arizona, an unusual distinction, and President of the Association of Past Grand
Masters of Arizona.
During his years of residence in Arizona, Dr. Freeman
has taken an especial interest in its very early history dating back to
Coronado's expedition of 1540 a fondness for which has developed into what may
well be termed a hobby, and has acquired an extensive and valuable library on
this subject, consisting of more than 400 volumes, some of which are very rare
and from one to two hundred years old, many of them out of print and very
difficult to get. What disposition will ultimately be made of this valuable
collection, Dr. Freeman has not definitely decided, other than that it will
never be permitted to leave Pima County. In knowledge of early events in the
history of the southwest, he probably has no superior in the state, his store of
information along these lines keeping pace with his accumulation of material
bearing on the subject.
Having lost his wife, father and mother many
years ago, Dr. Free- man makes his bachelor home in Tucson at the Old Pueblo
Club, which he was largely instrumental in establishing. --1913, Who's Who in
Arizona, pages 217-218.
Alfred J. Goldschmidt,
pioneer business man of Arizona and now a force in industrial circles of Tucson
as vice president and manager of the Eagle milling Company, was born in Hamburg,
Germany in October 1857. He acquired his education in the public schools of his
native city, attending school until he was fifteen years of age, after which he
became identified with the mercantile business.
He came to the United
States in 1879 and reached Arizona in April of the same year. He was one of the
pioneers of this territory, coming here before a railroad was constructed
through and accomplishing the last thirty six ours of the journey by stage,
traveling in this way from Gila Bend to Tucson. His first employment in the
latter city was with his brother-in-law, J.S. Mansfeld, a pioneer news dealer in
Arizona, who at that time was conducting a store in Tucson. Their association
continued for about seven years, after which Mr. Goldschmidt went to the silver
mining camps and spent two years there, returning to Tucson in 1886. The next
six months were spent in El Paso, Texas and then, after a short residence in
Tucson, he went to Los Angeles, where from 1887 to 1890 he engaged in the
mercantile business.
Again returning to Tucson in the latter year, he
followed the same occupation until 1896, when he again went to Los Angeles where
he engaged in various pursuits for three years. He made his final location in
Tucson in 1899 and in that year became connected with his brother Leo in the
Eagle Milling Company of which he is now vice president.
In 1910 Mr.
Goldschmidt married Miss Louise Harris of Chicago Illinois and both are well and
favorably known in Tucson. --Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913, pg 596
Leo Goldschmidt is president of the Eagle Flour
Milling Company of Tucson and has been connected with various other business
concerns that have contributed to the material development and upbuilding of the
state. He as born in Hamburg, Germany, September 15, 1852, a son of Samuel H.
and Frederika (Lichtenhein) Goldschmidt. The father was engaged in the banking
business as manager of the Hamburg branch of the Copenhagen Bank but during the
financial crisis of 1857 the bank failed after which he entered into active
connection with manufacturing interests in Hamburg. He passed away in 1884 at
the age of eighty four years while his wife died in 1878 at the age of sixty
four years. In their family were four sons and four daughters of whom seven are
living and all came to America. Gertrude the eldest, is the widow of William
Florsheim and is now making her home with her brother Leo in Tucson. Matilda
became the wife of Aaron Zeckendorf, a pioneer resident of Tucson and founder of
the firm of L. Zeckendorf and Company. Mr. Zeckendorf died in Sante Fe New
Mexico since which time his widow has returned to Hamburg Germany where she now
makes her home. Henry S. is a practicing attorney of Chicago. Eva is the widow
of J.S. Mansfield, who conducted the pioneer news depot of Tucson in which city
she is still living. Adolf who for several years was associated with his brother
Leo in business died in the year 1899. Leo is the next of the family. Helen
became the wife of M. Leventhal and resides in Los Angeles in California. Alfred
J. completes the family.
Leo Goldschmidt spent his youthful days in
Hamburg Germany and completed his education in the high school of that city. He
was eighteen when attracted by the opportunities of the new world, he crossed
the Atlantic and made his way directly to Sante Fe New Mexico where he was
connected with the mercantile house of Solomon Spiegelberg until 1878 when he
removed to Tucson. In the meantime he had carefully saved his earnings until his
economy and industry had enabled him to carry out his cherished plan of
embarking in business on his own account and following his removal to Tucson he
opened a furniture store, which he successfully conducted for ten years, making
it one of the important mercantile enterprises of the city. On the expiration of
that period he organized the Eagle Flour Milling Company of which he is still
the president. He was practically the pioneer in this line of work in southern
Arizona for he erected the first modern flour mill in Tucson. He is also a
director of the Consolidated National Bank of Tucson and has been connected with
various other financial and industrial enterprises, now being president of the
Gila Valley Milling Company at Safford. --Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913
Leo Goldschmidt, president of the Eagle Milling Company, Tucson, and director of the Consolidated National Bank, was born in Hamburg, Germany, September 16, 1852. He was educated there in the public schools and came to the United States when seventeen years of age, went immediately to New Mexico and for a number of years lived in Santa Fe. He came to Arizona in 1877 and has since been a resident of Tucson. There he was first in the employ of L. Zeckendorf & Co., then became established in the furniture business, in which he continued for several years, and in 1887 he sold out and purchased an interest in the flour mill in Tucson then owned by E. N. Fish. One year later he bought out the entire interest of Mr. Fish and the business was incorporated under the present firm name, The Eagle Milling Company, which, from a very small beginning has developed into the largest mill of its kind in Arizona. The mill imports grain from both east and west, but uses as much of the Arizona product as is obtainable. Not only does the mill manufacture flour, but it does also a large business in feed and grain. The management is noted for the fairness and liberality with which it treats its employees, and the payroll is large, adding considerably to the prosperity of Tucson. Alfred J. Goldschmidt is associated with his brother in the business and is vice president of the corporation, of which they own most of the stock. Monte M. Mansfeld is secretary. Leo Goldschmidt is active in civic, political, social and fraternal circles. He is a member of the Masons and B. P. O. E. --1913, Who's Who in Arizona, page 226.
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